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RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
'Very dangerous': Waipiro marina rubber-stamped for fast track
Local iwi and hapū Ngāti Kuta, Patukeha and Ngāti Hine are against a fast-tracked Waipiro Marina Project. Photo: supplied / Jay Howell The Bay of Islands community is shocked that a fast-tracked marina proposal will progress to the next stage. The approval on Monday by Minister of Infrastructure Chris Bishop comes with no support from local iwi and hapū Ngāti Kuta, Patukeha, and Ngāti Hine. "We are deeply concerned and do not understand how the minister could disregard the united oppositon to this proposal from across the district," Kohu Hakaraia of Patukeha hapū said. Bishop has been approached for comment, however, Hakaraia said they "refute" the minister's previous statements that the marina is regionally or nationally significant. The proposed build of a commercial marina will offer berthage for 200-250 recreational boating vessels with 14 spaces for 50-metre superyachts. The cost of each berth depends on the vessel size - a 10-20m slot would cost between $80,000 - $640,000 while a 20-30m berth could be priced up to $1.2 million. A public boat ramp, a parking lot, fuelling services, and hospitality and retail venues would also be constructed on reclaimed seabed with sand dredging used during construction and for maintanence. It is estimated to bring an economic impact of $177.9 to $218.8 million in value-added GDP and generate just under 150 full time jobs in construction, operations, and boat maintenance over a 30-year period. The proposed plan for up to 250 boating vessels Photo: supplied Those opposing the Waipiro Marina Project have called for transparency and accountability from the two companies - Hopper Developments and Azuma Property - and hoped the decision would go back to a Resource Management Act process. "As hapū and community, we feel that our voices have not been adequately heard," Hakaraia said. Both companies did not respond to requests for comment. An online petition has rallied 14,600 signatures disagreeing with the use of fast-track legislation for the site and Far North Mayor Moko Tepania had also pledged to write a personal letter . There has also been a stern no from boaties. Russell Boating Club members voted at their AGM in June to oppose use of the Fast Track Approvals Act 2024 with regards to the Bay of Islands project. Life member and former commodore of the club Jay Howell said the area was a quiet, treasured destination for locals to "anchor up and enjoy getting away from the hustle and bustle of Russell and the western flank of the Bay of Islands". The proposed marina and boat ramp would overwhelm the waterways with boat traffic, he said. Plus, the Ōpua-Okiato Vehicle Ferry crossing already brought long lines of cars that worsened in the summertime, Howell said. "That ferry is going to get overwhelmed by traffic. There aren't any alternatives really. They can't add more ferries and more ferry capacity, they're already at capacity. "There's infrastructure issues that Fast-Track just overlooks all of that and allows somebody [who isn't local] to make a decision that it has big ramifications locally." Boating and tourism businesses in Ōpua and Paihia were already struggling, he noted, and the marina could take business away from existing commercial centres making businesses less economically viable. A low tide aerial shot of Waipiro Bay. Photo: supplied Environmental benefits stated in the application included the creation of new marine environments, and improved ability to monitor and manage international and domestic boats that could be carrying foreign invasive species, like seaweed pest exotic caulerpa. Howell was also a member of the Eastern Bay of Islands Preservation Society. He was concerned that the influx of a couple of hundred extra boats would cause further decline of the whale and dolphin populations - something he had noticed in the last 15 years of living there. "Private boats just follow them around and don't leave them alone, and the marina will just exacerbate that situation out here." In addition, scallop beds and mussels in the area had already been decimated due to overharvesting. Te Rāwhiti residents would lose one of their main pipi beds. "There's all these impacts that the human activities are having on the marine environment in the area, and the marina will certainly put a lot more burden on all of that," Howell said. Another member of the Preservation Society, Sandra Scowen, said the area should be protected from large-scale commercial development and preserved for future generations. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Quarter of all tenant applications to Tenancy Tribunal relate to concerns about Healthy Homes
Tenants most often sought the recovery of a bond, damages due to landlords breaching obligations and compliance with Healthy Home standards. (File photo) Photo: 123RF About a quarter of all tenant applications to the Tenancy Tribunal relate to concerns about Healthy Homes standards, but industry commentators say most landlords are meeting obligations. In its latest annual report, the Tenancy Tribunal said there were 29,309 applications made to it in 2024, up 14 percent compared to 2023 and up 43 percent compared to 2022. About three-quarters came from landlords and 66 percent of all claims related to rent arrears. Tenants most often sought the recovery of a bond, damages due to landlords breaching their obligations, or compliance with Healthy Homes standards. From July 1 this year, all rental properties had to comply with Healthy Homes rules , which set minimum standards for heating, ventilation and insulation. Tenants living in a home that is not compliant could take their concerns to the Tenancy Tribunal. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, said in 2024, 1412 applications to the tribunal related to a Healthy Homes concerns. In the 2025 financial year, it was 1394. Economist Ed McKnight, from property investment firm Opes Partners, said this was a factor in about 29 percent of tenants' complaints. "That sounds high. But there are approximately 600,000 rental properties in New Zealand. "So only 0.2 percent of rental properties had a tenancy complaint regarding the Healthy Homes Standards." He said the numbers indicated property investors had taken the rules seriously. Matt Ball, a spokesperson for the NZ Property Investors Federation, said the number of applications should start to drop now that all rental properties were required to be covered. But Sarina Gibbon, general manager of the Auckland Property Investors Association, said there could be "systemic illiteracy" about the standards, and tenants might not feel they could push back. Sarina Gibbon, general manager of the Auckland Property Investors Association said tenants may feel as though they cannot push back against landlords. (File photo) Photo: Supplied "The power imbalance inherent in tenancy relationships is not abstract. It's basically a butter knife we put in tenants' hands and say, 'There, go fight your battles.' "I can go on and on about the systemic illiteracy; it is pretty endemic - I see it everywhere, among landlords, tenants, property managers, vendors, assessors, and real estate agents. There's a lot of bad [Healthy Homes] information in the marketplace and it is concerning how many landlords are relying on them as professional advice." Ball said the big increase in applications overall was probably driven in part by an increase in the number of people renting. "Active bonds increased from 374,298 at the start of 2020 to 424,383 at the end of 2024, a 13 percent increase. Over the same period tribunal applications went up 31 percent, so this is close to half of the reason." He said the tribunal now offered a wider range of options to resolve disputes, which were faster and cheaper than a full hearing and could make it more likely that people would lodge an application. "For example, both fast-track resolution and mediation provide a faster way to resolve a dispute and are increasingly used by both parties. It's interesting to note that the percentage of applications which actually required a hearing fell from 50 percent in 2020 to 44 percent in 2024." Overall, in 2024, tribunal hearings for residential tenancy cases were conducted on average just under 10 weeks after filing. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
Inside Economics: What the Reserve Bank will look for in today's job market data, plus who pays the cost of Trump's tariffs
It won't necessarily be key to the Reserve Bank's thinking either, as it weighs the data against plans to cut the Official Cash Rate further. The Reserve Bank (RBNZ) team is going to want to look 'under the hood', so to speak, at all the underlying data in the Stats NZ Labour Market Release. The topline unemployment rate is a good macroeconomic barometer. It is collected via the Household Labour Force Survey, a series that runs back to 1986. But it is very specific, counting only those looking for work who have worked no hours at all. If we want to understand how the economy is performing, we need to recognise that there is a lot more going on in the labour market than that. So what should we be looking for at 10.45am, if not the topline unemployment number? And what might shift the dial for the RBNZ? Participation rate One of the big movers this year has been the level of participation in the labour market. Basically, this measures the number of people who have dropped out of the job hunt. Sometimes, people just give up and live on savings or from their partner's income. Mostly, though, the falling participation rate reflects rising numbers of people (particularly young people) going back into education or further training. So in many ways, it's not a bad thing. It does, however, flatter the topline unemployment rate, so it's an important number when assessing the overall state of the economy and labour market. The rate has been falling this year as jobs have dried up. Westpac is expecting it will fall to 71.2%, from 71.5% in March, down from an all-time high of 72.4% a year ago. Employment rate People stop looking for work when the jobs aren't there, so just as important as the unemployment rate is the employment rate. The employment rate, as you'd expect, measures the number of people (over 15) in paid employment. In the March quarter, that figure was 67.2% (or 2,914,000 people). It has likely fallen again in the second quarter. Underemployment It's a feature of the Household Labour Force survey that the definition of unemployment is very strict. As mentioned above, if you worked any hours at all, you are not classified as unemployed. But if you worked some hours and wanted to work more, then you are classified as underemployed. Underutilisation If we want to really get a sense of how bad the market is then we can add the unemployment rate and underemployment rate together to get the underutilisation rate. This rate also includes those who want a job and are available to work, but are not currently looking for a job (available potential jobseeker) and those who are unavailable to start work but are looking for a job as they will be able to start work within the next month (unavailable jobseeker). So this is probably the broadest measure of overall slack in the job market and might best reflect how sick or healthy it all really is. The underutilisation rate was 12.3% in the March quarter. Wage growth This might well be the most important set of data for the Reserve Bank – and for those hoping interest rates will continue to fall. Today, we'll get a read on wages from both the Labour Cost Index (LCI) and the Quarterly Employment Survey. Unadjusted, the LCI tends to increase at a higher rate than wage-cost inflation since it includes market costs as well as factors such as employees' individual performance or years of service, Stats NZ says. For example, if an employee received a pay-rate increase because of a rise in the cost of living, this would be reflected in both the LCI's primary measure of wage-cost inflation (adjusted LCI) and the unadjusted LCI. However, if an employee gets a pay-rate increase for quality reasons, such as acknowledging good performance, this would only be reflected in the unadjusted LCI. Average ordinary time hourly earnings are measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES). This figure is the mean value of wages and salaries paid per hour, excluding overtime in jobs measured by the QES, so it can rise or fall as the type of work being done changes. In other words, if more Kiwis get high-paying tech jobs, we'd see average ordinary time wages rise, even if pay rates for high-tech workers didn't rise. ANZ economists expect annual wage growth to continue slowing. Wage inflation, as measured by the private sector Labour Cost Index (including overtime), is expected to slow from 2.6% to 2.3%, and growth in private sector average hourly earnings (ordinary time) is expected to slow from 3.8% to 3.3%. 'At these levels, wage inflation can be considered broadly consistent with CPI [Consumers Price Index] inflation around target,' ANZ's Miles Workman writes. 'But given we're a decent clip from the labour market entering inflationary territory, it's fair to say that disinflation pressures stemming from the labour market are set to continue for a while yet.' In other words, the lousy job market means smaller wage rises and less inflation, so the Reserve Bank should be okay to keep cutting rates. How bad are Trump's new NZ tariffs? Who'll pay? New Zealand's export sector was shocked last week by the US administration's decision to slap New Zealand with a base tariff of 15%. We had been expecting 10%. How bad it all is for New Zealand's economy depends on who you talk to. Clearly, those directly in the firing line are very concerned. But economists haven't been quite so worried. While industry sectors are facing significant risks to demand for their goods, economists point out that the direct fallout isn't likely to be material to our macroeconomic outlook. 'It doesn't strike me New Zealand should be especially worried,' ANZ group chief economist Richard Yetsenga (visiting us from Sydney this week) said. While the tariffs would be a significant burden for those exporters directly affected, it was important to step back and look at the potential costs in a broader economic context, he said. 'Obviously there's a difference between 15% and 10%, but New Zealand exports about $8 billion a year to the US on a $400 billion economy. To do a quick bit of math, that's 2%.' ANZ Group chief economist Richard Yetsenga. Photo / Michael Craig So 15% on 2% of GDP at worst. Or as ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley put it, a maximum potential trade cost of $1.4b. 'How the costs will be spread remains a big variable. We know the importer technically pays the tariff price to US customs. 'But whether they are able to demand lower prices from New Zealand exporters to compensate will depend on pricing power. Every product is likely to be different. So there is no easy equation for working out the likely costs.' In some cases, US consumers may indeed have an unwavering demand for New Zealand products, even though they don't know it. Global beef prices are high right now and the US doesn't produce enough low-grade minced beef for its hamburger industry. Many US importers will still need to buy New Zealand beef, and if they baulk at paying the higher tariff price, then we have other markets right now that can take it. The same is probably true of the high-grade dairy protein ingredients that Fonterra exports to the US. Inelastic fantastic In economic terms, what we are talking about here is the elasticity of pricing. Or the inelasticity (as the case may be). Both dairy and beef ingredients may prove to be relatively inelastic, meaning consumers aren't very price-sensitive. They aren't going to give up hamburgers or protein shakes any more than motorists are going to give up driving when petrol prices rise. New Zealand has copped a competitive disadvantage versus Australia on 10% tariffs, but it remains to be seen just how much capacity the Aussies have to boost beef and dairy sales to the US. A product like New Zealand wine might be more vulnerable. At face value, it is an elastic good, ie it is discretionary and consumers can easily substitute with cheaper US wines (or Australian, given their tariff advantage). New Zealand Winegrowers advocacy general manager Sarah Wilson told Herald NOW's Ryan Bridge the tariff announcement was 'very concerning'. 'Your typical bottle of New Zealand wine, six months ago, that tariff was about 10 cents, and now we're looking at more like $1.10. 'That's $112 million in extra tariffs that's got to come from somewhere.' Wilson said it would be a decision for each business as to how those tariffs would be absorbed. 'My optimistic take is that New Zealand wine prices aren't as elastic as they might seem at face value. 'We sell premium wine to sophisticated consumers. We're not competing on price in the first place.' US wine drinkers who are already prepared to pay more than US$20 (almost $34) a bottle might not be so concerned about an additional $1, if they've already decided they want a good New Zealand sauvignon blanc. Here's hoping. Global concern We still face a broader layer of concern about what tariffs will do to the global economy. Economists tend to try to look at the average (or effective) tariff rate on all goods going into the US. According to Fitch Ratings, that sits at 17% after all the August 1 fallout so far. 'The US effective tariff rate is now 17% – about 8 percentage points lower than our April 3, 2025 estimate when higher reciprocal tariffs were originally announced, but around 3 percentage points higher than our estimate at the end of June 2025.' The International Monetary Fund (IMF) boosted its global growth outlook last week (pre-August 1), based on the world's economy coping better than expected with the tariff shock. It now sees growth of 3% for 2025 and 3.1% in 2026 – an upward revision from April (when it picked 2.8% and 3% respectively). But HSBC chief global economist Janet Henry (who visited New Zealand last week) warns that we haven't felt the full impact yet. 'The US economy and indeed the global economy have been a bit more resilient than we'd feared at the start of April,' she said. 'But just because we haven't seen the impact of this uncertainty weighing on growth doesn't mean we're not going to.' Tariffs were here to stay, Henry said. 'We haven't seen the end of them, and we will get more.' The tariffs, alongside immigration policy (both slowing the inflow and increasing the outflow), would deliver supply shocks to the US economy, she said. 'They are going to mean US growth is lower than it would have been, and inflation is going to be higher than it would have been.' 'While it is a supply shock for the US, it's primarily a demand shock for the rest of the world. 'The tariffs are designed to slow US import demand ... and the rest of the demand will feel that in weaker exports.' Liam Dann is business editor-at-large for the New Zealand Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003. To sign up to his weekly newsletter, click on your user profile at and select 'My newsletters'. For a step-by-step guide, click here. If you have a burning question about the quirks or intricacies of economics send it to or leave a message in the comments section.
